Swedish Meatballs

Do you know what Swedish Meatballs are?  I don’t.  I’ve had them many times, and for every person who has served them, there has been a very different recipe.  Maybe someday I’ll ask my Swedish relative for a precise definition, but in the meantime, this is my conglomeration of what I like best about different meatballs-in-a-gravy recipes I’ve had.

Plan on an hour to 1.5 hours to cook this, depending on how long you intend to let the sauce simmer.

We’ll make use of my Gluten Free Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe, but we’ll make some modifications to it, as follows:

• Use beef broth instead of chicken broth
• Add 1/4 large onion diced, and saute it along with the other vegetables.
• add an extra 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Meatball Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 cup gluten-free bread crumbs/cubes (about one slice of this bread, shredded)
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• a dash of garlic powder
• 1/4 large onion
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Yes, you could pan fry the meatballs, but once someone pointed out to me that I could bake them in the oven instead, I’ve never gone back to pan frying – it’s far more hassle than it’s worth!
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, onions, and the seasonings.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and mix in the milk and melted butter.
4. Pour the liquid ingredients over the meat mixture and thoroughly combine.
5. Either by hand, or using a handy-dandy meatball maker, make the meatballs and arrange them in a baking dish.
6. Cook them for 1/2 hour at 375 degrees.
7. While the meatballs are cooking, make your mushroom soup.
8. 

   Swedish Meatballs

   Take the meatballs from the oven with a slotted spoon, so excess grease will drip out, and add the meatballs to the soup.

9. Let it simmer as long as you like, until it’s as thick as you want it.  I usually let it simmer for about a half an hour.
10. But what are you going to serve this on?  Well, it’s really up to you!  Serve it with gluten-free pasta, or maybe with rice, quinoa, or whatever grain suits your fancy!

This recipe feeds Laura and me for two meals, so it’s about 4 adult servings.